ASICS... Get rid of Gel and condense your running line-up.

The brands that have grown recently have done so at the expense of Asics. Asics used to have a much bigger market share but companies like Hoka have leapfrogged them very quickly. Asics didn't even put up a fight.

Right now their assortment is probably too big. They do have some good product but it's hard to know if you should take a new shoe seriously or not. They have struggled with not keeping up with trends of less plastic and seamless uppers. The Cumulus 22 is actually decent, but many of their shoes suffer from the stiff, slappy ride. At the same time, people who love kayanos really love kayanos.

*stipe wrote:

Right now their assortment is probably too big. They do have some good product but it's hard to know if you should take a new shoe seriously or not. They have struggled with not keeping up with trends of less plastic and seamless uppers. The Cumulus 22 is actually decent, but many of their shoes suffer from the stiff, slappy ride. At the same time, people who love kayanos really love kayanos.

Absolutely agreed, they have some hobby joggers absolutely locked in to some of their shoes and they don't want to see much change, but it also isolates them a bit from the performance oriented market. I suppose that's why they have the EVO series forming around flight foam, but still. The nimbus and kayano could be better, even for their loyal customers. To me, the whole lineup definitely just has a ton of clutter around it.

Just bring back the Hyperspeed and Piranha!!

I’ve put many miles on hyper speeds. Strangely, they still offer a few more traditional road flats, but I think they all have a plastic trustic bridge.

*stipe wrote:

I’ve put many miles on hyper speeds. Strangely, they still offer a few more traditional road flats, but I think they all have a plastic trustic bridge.

I wish they'd make some flats with a smaller drop, too. Almost every shoe they make is 9-10mm drop with a big exposed plastic truss. I wonder if ASICS Japan still gets better flat choices.

Their staple lines like the Kayano and Nimbus have changed a lot over the years and they have lost that share because they strayed away in an attempt to make their shoes lighter. The Kayano and Nimbus used to be plush and soft and now they're just firm. They have to accept the fact that their brand will never be cool. Their target market for those series of shoes is 40+ hobbyjogger looking for cushion. They don't care how heavy the shoe is just give them all the damned gel they want.

At least it's easy to find the running shoes you are looking for from Asics. Have you ever tried to look at the running shoe lineup from Adidas? You'll get 20 pages of different shoes meant to be worn to the mall

Corrector wrote:

At least it's easy to find the running shoes you are looking for from Asics. Have you ever tried to look at the running shoe lineup from Adidas? You'll get 20 pages of different shoes meant to be worn to the mall

Very true. It's very easy to get lost in countless pages of cheap shoes.

I want a brand that makes simple looking shoes. I want to see more black shoes and spikes. Don't want to be looking like a fashionista while running.

Some of the Asics shoes look cool and then others have poor color combinations.

Do any respectable athletes run in Kayanos?

I was running in Nike Infintiy Reacts and had terrible Achilles pain. Running store recommended switching to Kayanos - no more Achilles pain but they are admittedly heavy and ugly (and now getting shin pain).

never owned a pair of Asics. I feel like I'd tie bricks under my feet and it'd work better. I go through 6 pairs of Nike and Hokas a year and I'd love to try other brands too but they just look sooo outdated, like from another century.

uhoh wrote:

Do any respectable athletes run in Kayanos?

I was running in Nike Infintiy Reacts and had terrible Achilles pain. Running store recommended switching to Kayanos - no more Achilles pain but they are admittedly heavy and ugly (and now getting shin pain).

I read somewhere that Kawauchi trains in Kayanos. I don't remember where or when I saw this and won't swear to it.

forgot my password wrote:

Just bring back the Hyperspeed and Piranha!!

Piranha need to come back. Favorite flat for workouts.